How is the whole law actually fulfilled in a believer's life?
The whole law is fulfilled in a believer’s life not by human effort, but when the love of God is imparted by the Holy Spirit and operates through that believer. As the believer walks after the Spirit rather than the flesh, God-given love works no ill to a neighbor and thereby fulfills the law.
Les explains from Romans 13:8 and 13:10 that the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law, because love works no ill to his neighbor; therefore God-given love is the fulfilling of the law. He emphasizes that nothing we can do would accomplish this, but when the love of God is imparted through the power of the Holy Spirit and works in our life, then yes, we fulfill the whole law. Coming back to Romans 8:4, he ties this to the righteousness, the completeness, of the law being fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. That walk marks true salvation: a changed lifestyle, changed appetites, and a changed thought process, because the believer is no longer under the control of the world, the flesh, and the devil, but under the control of the Spirit of God.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
More Questions
Why can't we fulfill the law by our own efforts?
No one can fulfill the Law by his own effort; the whole Law is fulfilled only when God's love, imparted through the Holy Spirit, works in a believer's life.
How can a person fulfill the whole Law?
No human effort can fulfill the Law; only the love of God, imparted through the Holy Spirit and working in our life, makes us fulfill the whole Law.